John  Tileston's  School, 

BOSTON,  1778-1789  :  1761-1766. 

Also,  his  Diary  from  i-j6i  to  rj66. 

BY   D.    C.    COLESWORTHY. 


"  What  now  appear  to  be  only  trifles,  in  after  years  will  become 
important  facts."  —  WILLIAM  GOOLD. 


BOSTON : 

ANTIQUARIAN  BOOK  STORE. 
1887. 


' 


WILLIAM   BLAKE   TRASK, 

A    MODEST,     UNASSUMING    CITIZEN,    A    COURTEOUS, 

CHRISTIAN   GENTLEMAN, 

WHOSE   PERSEVERING   RESEARCHES  AND  UNWEARIED  LABORS  IN  THE 

ANTIQUARIAN    FIELD    HAVE    BEEN    A   SOURCE   OF    PLEASURE 

AND    PROFIT   TO  THE   SONS   AND   DAUGHTERS 

OF   THE   PURITANS,     • 

OUR    EXCELLENT   FRIEND    FOR   MORE  THAN  A  THIRD  OF  A  CENTURY, 
THIS   LITTLE   WORK    IS   RESPECTFULLY    AND   GRATE- 
FULLY  DEDICATED. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  people  of  New  England  owe  a  large 
debt  of  gratitude  to  her  noble  army  of 
faithful  and  efficient  teachers  —  many  of 
whom,  to  instruct  themselves  and  their 
children,  have  labored  through  a  long  series 
of  years  in  patience  and  with  persever- 
ance, receiving  in  many  instances  but  few 
words  of  encouragement,  and  a  meager 
remuneration. 

As  a  concise  introduction  to  the  account 
of  one  who  labored  probably  longer  than 
any  other  individual  in  his  vocation  in  New 
England,  I  have  given  a  chapter  on  the 
early  schools  of  Boston.  One  cannot  fail 
to  notice  the  great  improvement  that  has 
been  made  in  the  mode  of  teaching  during 
the  past  two  centuries,  and  the  excellent 
facilities  now  afforded  for  the  cultivation  of 
the  mind  and  the  elevation  of  the  affec- 
tions. Undoubtedly  the  schools  of  New 
England,  and  especially  the  schools  of  Bos- 
ton,' come  the  nearest  to  perfection  of  any 
in  this  country  or  the  world.  The  most 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

capable  teachers  are  secured,  whilst  no 
narrow  policy  warps  the  judgment  of  our 
committees,  prompting  them  to  withhold 
any  reasonable  amount  of  money  that  can 
be  judiciously  expended  in  the  advance- 
ment of  the  cause  of  education,  or  in  the 
moral  improvement  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion. 

I  have  added  short  sketches  of  a  few 
New  England  teachers  who  spent  a  large 
portion  of  their  lives  in  preparing  our 
children  and  youth  for  lives  of  prosperity 
and  usefulness,  whose  names  deserve  to  be 
held  *in  grateful  and  perpetual  remem- 
brance. 


INDEX. 


Adams,  John,  34.  Burrill,  Susan,  32. 

Adams,  Mr.,  39.  Buxton,  Me.,  25. 

Alle.i,  Mr.,  73.  Byfield  Parish,  22. 

Appleton,  John,  27. 
Atlantic   and    St.    Law-  Capen,  47. 

rence  Railroad  Com-      Carter,  Mr.,  39,  79. 

pany,  24.  Carter,  Nathaniel  H.,  23. 

Cartwright,  Capt.,  74. 

Bagley,  John,  24.  Central  Church,  21. 

Baker,  47.  Charlestown,  19. 

BaLard,  74.  Chase,  Aquila,  31. 

Barret,  Deacon,  79.  Chase,  Caleb,  24,  31. 

Barret,  Samuel,  76,  77.      Chase,  Wm.  D.,  32. 
Beckett,  Sylvester  B.,  27.  Cheever,  Ezekiel,  19. 
Bingham,  Caleb,  37,  39.     Cheever,  Ira,  21. 
Blanchard,  Caleb,  76.        Checkley,  Mr.,  77,  78. 
Boroughs,  Capt.,  78.          Chelsea,  21. 
Boston,  19,38,41,43,47.    Chester,  N.  H.,  31. 
Bostonians,  39,  40,  48.       Chichester,  N.  H.,  28. 
Boston  Latin  School,  30.  Clark,  Daniel,  25. 
Bowen,  Penuel,  78.  Cobbitt,  47. 

Boyd,  47.  Coffin,  C,  73. 

Bradford,  Mass.,  31.          Coffin,  Charles,  34. 
Bright,  Mrs.,  68.  Coffin,  Eliza,  73. 


8 


INDEX. 


Coffin,  Lydia,  34. 
Coffin,  Mary  Barrett,  34. 
Cogswell,  William,  24. 
Colesworthy,  D.  C,  27. 
Colesworthy,  Daniel  P., 

42,  47. 
Collins,  47. 
Commencement,  41. 
Coney,  Daniel,  69. 
Contribution  money,  80. 
Cotton  Hill,  14. 
Crowell's  lot,  14. 
Cummings,  Alex.,  75. 
Cummings,  Sumner,  24. 
Cushman,  Bezaleel,  23. 
Cutter,  Edward  F.,  24. 
Cutter,  William,  25. 

Darracott,  William,  75. 
Dartmouth  College,  31. 
Day  of  fasting,  72. 
De  Cheserau,  74. 
Dere  Island,  13. 
Diary  from  1 761  to 

1766-71. 

Dickey,  Capt.,  77. 
Dorchester,  16,  33. 
Doubt,  Dr.  Nyott,  76. 
Doubt,  Mrs.,  78. 
Dow,  Neal,  24. 


Draper,  Mr.,  74. 
Dummer  Academy,  22. 
Duren,  Charles,  26. 
Duren,  E.  F.,  26. 
Dwight,  Wm.  T.,  32. 

Early  Schools  in  Bos- 
ton, 13. 

Eell,  Sarah,  68. 
Election,  41. 
Eliot  school-house,  17. 
Empress  of  Russia,  71. 
English  grammar,  40. 
Europe,  24. 
Evening  school,  71. 
Everett,  Edward,  36, 45. 
Exchange  street,  43. 
Exeter,  N.  H.,  23. 

Faneuil  Hall,  44. 
Field,  Mary,  36. 
First  Parish  Church,  25. 
Fowles,  Rebekah,  33. 
Fox,  Edward,  26,  27. 

Gardner,  Francis,  30. 
Genealogical  Register,  24. 
Governor  and  Council,  43. 
Granary  burial  ground,  35. 
Grant,  Anna,  79. 


INDEX. 


Greenleaf,  Stephen,  75,     Jenkin,  Capt,  76. 
76.  Jewett,  Jedediah,  27,  29. 


Haines,  Edward  P.,  27. 
Hamlin,  Cyrus,  29. 
Hampton,  N.  H.,  31. 
Harrod,  Benj.,  68. 
Harvard  College,  22, 30. 
Hebron,  Me.,  23. 
Hicks,  Hezekiah,  15. 
Hicks,  Zachariah,  34. 
High  School,  Portland, 

25. 

High  Street  Church,  29. 
Holbrook,  Abia,  16. 
Holmes,  Nathaniel,  68. 
Holyoke,  Samuel,  16. 
Howard,  Joseph,  25. 
Hutchinsons,  17. 
Hutchinson,  Edward,  14. 
Hutchinson,  Thomas,  14. 

Illsley,  Silas,  26. 
Independence,  41. 
Ingersoll,  Elizabeth,  68. 
Ingraham,  47. 
Ipswich,  19. 

Jackson,  Henry,  28. 
Jackson,  Timothy,  69. 


Kendall,  Amos,  23. 
King  of  Spain,  72. 
King,  Rufus,  22. 

Langdon,  Mr.,  79. 
Laughton,  John,  79. 
Leach,  Mrs.,  77. 
Leache,  Mr.,  75,  79. 
Leverett,  T.,  78. 
Libby,  Joseph,  25. 
Lloyd,  Dr.,  77. 
Longfellow,  Henry  W., 

24. 
Longfellow,  Stephen, 

22,  24. 

Lothrop,  Ellen,  21. 
Lovell,  John,  16. 
Lovell,  James,  16. 
Love,  Susan,  14. 

Maine,  47. 

Maine  Congregational 

Conference,  26. 
Malcom,  Mr.,  78. 
Marblehead,  21. 
Martinico,  72. 
Massachusetts,  33. 


10 


INDEX. 


Massachusetts  Charita- 
ble Society,  36. 

Mather,  Cotton,  20. 

Merrill,  James,  27. 

Middlebury  College,  29. 

Moncton,  Gen.,  72. 

Motley,  John  Lothrop, 
30. 

Moody,  Franklin  C,  27. 

Moody,  Samuel,  22. 

Morrison,  John  H.,  30. 

Mountfort,  47. 

Neats,  Samuel,  79. 
New  England,  14,  19, 

21,  30,  34,  37- 
New  Haven,  19. 
New  North  Church,  80. 
New  York,  32. 
North  Bennet  Street,  17 
North  Grammar  School, 

1 6. 

North  School,  15. 
North  Writing  School, 

15,34,37- 

Old  South  Church,  43. 
Old  State  House,  43. 

Page,  Thaddeus,  36. 


Parents  and  guardians 
of  private  scholars, 
68. 

Parker,  Joel,  24. 

Parsons,  Theophilus,  22. 

Patten,  Stephen,  38. 

Payson,  Edward,  26. 

Perkins,  Jn'o,  72. 

Phillips  Academy,  31. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  30. 

Pittman,  47. 

Portland,  25,  28,  29,  31, 

47- 

Portland  Academy,  24. 
Portmorte,  Philemon,  13. 
Portsmouth,  28,  31. 
Preble,  Edward,  22,  24. 
Prince,  Mr.,  71. 
Prince,  Hugh,  32. 
Prince  Street,  35. 
Proctor,  John,  15,  16. 
Proctor,  Master,  75. 
Prophecies,  20. 

Queen  Street  School,  15. 
Roxbury,  43. 

Salem,  21. 
Saltonstall,  Mary,  68. 


INDEX. 


II 


Scholars  from   1761  to 

1765,49. 
Scholars  from   1778  to 

1789,  55. 

Shattuck,  George  C,  30. 
Shaw,  Jason,  26. 
Shepley,  Ether,  24. 
Shippard,  William,  68. 
Shurtleff,  Roswell,  31. 
Shurtleff,  Nathaniel  B., 

30. 

Sigourney,  Capt.,  72. 
Smith,  47. 

Smith,  Henry  B.,  26. 
Southack,  Capt.,  15. 
South  Boston,  16. 
South  End,  42. 
Southgate,  Horatio,  26. 
South  Grammar  School, 

1 6. 
South  Writing  School, 

15,  16. 
Stackpole,  Charles  A., 

26,  27. 

State  of  Maine,  47. 
Stevens,  Mad'm,  73. 
Strong,  Caleb,  22. 
Stuart,  the  celebrated, 

44. 
Symonds,  Mr.,  74. 


Tansur  singers,  74. 
Third    Parish    Church, 

26,  32. 

Thomas,  Elias,  Jr.,  79. 
Thomson,  Mr.,  20. 
Tileston,  Hannah,  33. 
Tileston,  John,  16. 
Tileston,  Timothy,  33. 
Tucker,  Phil.,  69. 


Vernon,  Capt.,  74,  75. 
Vermont,  26. 
Vinal,  John,  16. 


Wainwright,  Mr.,  14. 
Walpole,  N.  H.,  30. 
Washington,    George, 

41,  42. 

Washington  Street,  42. 
Waterville  College,  26. 
Webber,  Mr.,  79. 
Webb,  Mr.,  76. 
Webb,  Nathan,  36. 
Webb,  Sophia,  36. 
Whitmore,    Maj.-Gen., 

7i. 

Willard,  President,  22. 
Williams,  47. 


12  INDEX. 

Will,  Mr.,  74.  Writing  School,  Queen 

Winslow,  Albert,  32.  Street,  16. 

Wiswall,  Peleg,  16. 

York,  Me.,  22. 


EARLY  SCHOOLS  IN  BOSTON. 


THE  first  settlers  of  Boston,  as  soon  as 
they  opened  a  house  for  public  worship, 
commenced  looking  after  the  education  of 
their  children.  As  early  as  April  13,  1634, 
at  a  meeting  called  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town,  "it  was  gen'ally  agreed  upon, 
that  our  brother,  Philemon  Portmorte,  shall 
be  entreated  to  become  schoole-master  for 
the  teaching  and  nourtering  children  with 
us." 

January  10,  1642,  " Dere  Island"  was 
ordered  to  be  improved  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  a  Free  School  for  the  Town. 

In  the  year  1647  a  law  was  enacted, 
by  the  General  Court  held  in  Boston, 
for  the  establishment  of  Public  Schools 
throughout  the  province.  One  reason 
given  by  our  wise  fathers  for  the  education 
of  the  young  was,  that  "  Satan "  had  a 


14  MASTER    TILESTON. 

"  strong  hold  of  ignorance,"  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  schools  and  general  instruction 
would  tend  to  counteract  the  influence 
of  that  "ould  deluder."  This  legislative 
enactment  was  undoubtedly  the  first  law 
of  a  similar  import  in  New  England. 

In  March,  1652,  the  town  provided  for 
the  enlargement  of  the  "  skoole  house." 

March,  1696,  it  was  voted  in  town- 
meeting  to  build  a  house  for  a  writing 
school  at  Cotton  Hill,  "adjoining  the  ould 
schoole  house." 

In  1717,  a  school-house  was  located 
upon  the  Common,  "  adjoining  to  Crowell's 
lott,  over  against  Mr.  Wainwright's." 

March  n,  1718,  at  a  town  meeting, 
Thomas  and  Edward  Hutchinson  offered 
to  build  a  school-house  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, for  a  free  writing  school  at  the 
north  part  of  the  town,  and  it  was  voted 
that  part  of  the  land  bought  of  Mrs.  Susan 
Love  be  taken  for  that  purpose. 

At  a  town  meeting,  September  28,  1720, 
a  committee  was  appointed  "  to  consider 
about  erecting  a  spinning  school  for  the 


EARLY    SCHOOLS    IN    BOSTON.  I  5 

instruction  of  the  children  in  town,"  and 
the  committee  recommended  the  building 
of  a  house  for  this  purpose  "  in  the  waste 
land  before  Captain  Southack's." 

In  1739  there  were  five  public  schools 
in  Boston,  in  which  nearly  600  pupils  were 
taught.  In  the  South  School  there  were 
1 20  scholars;  in  the  North  School,  60;  in 
the  North  Writing  School,  280;  in  Queen 
Street  School,  73  ;  in  the  South  Writing 
School,  62.  In  May,  1749,  the  number 
of  scholars  had  increased  to  705,  and  in 
1757  to  741. 

In  1743,  Zachariah  Hicks,  usher  in 
John  Proctor's  writing  school,  who  had 
a  salary  of  150  pounds,  petitioned  for  an 
increase  of  pay,  and  30  pounds  were  added. 

The  committee,  appointed  by  the  select- 
men to  visit  the  public  schools  in  March, 
1758,  was  accompanied  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  town,  overseers  of  the  poor, 
and  by  several  clergymen  and  physicians. 
They  reported  that  the  "  Schools  were  all 
in  good  order."  They  found  in  the  North 
Writing  School  220  scholars ;  in  the 


1 6  MASTER    TILESTON. 

North  Grammar  School,  36 ;  in  the  South 
Writing  School,  240 ;  in  the  South  Gram- 
mar School,  115;  in  the  Writing  School 
in  Queen  Street,  230.  Total,  841  scholars. 

At  this  period  there  were  also  several 
private  schools  taught  in  town. 

In  1764,  the  town  voted  to  pay  the 
following  sums  to  the  teachers :  John 
Tileston,  of  the  North  Grammar  School, 
100  pounds ;  Peleg  Wiswall,  of  the  same 
school,  100  pounds ;  Abia  Holbrook,  of 
the  Writing  School  on  the  Common,  100 
pounds,  and  John  Vinal,  his  assistant,  50 
pounds ;  John  Lovell,  of  the  South  School, 
120  pounds;  and  James  Lovell  60  pounds, 
and  John  Vinal  50  pounds,  ushers  in  the 
same  school ;  John  Proctor,  of  the  Writing 
School  in  Queen  Street,  100  pounds,  and 
Samuel  Holyoke,  of  the  same  school,  80 
pounds. 

By  a  legislative  act  in  1804,  when  a 
portion  of  Dorchester,  now  South  Boston, 
was  annexed  to  Boston,  it  was  stipulated 
that  the  proprietors  of  the  land,  among 
other  assignments,  should  set  apart  a  lot 


EARLY   SCHOOLS    IN    BOSTON.  I/ 

on  which  a  school-house  should  be  erected, 
at  some  future  period. 

The  school-house,  where  Mr.  Tileston 
taught,  was  a  small  building  on  North 
Bennet  Street,  where  the  Eliot  school- 
house  now  stands.  This  is  the  lot  given 
to  the  town  by  the  Hutchinsons. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century  the  Boston  schools  have  continued 
to  improve,  so  that  now  they  are  equal,  if 
not  superior,  to  any  schools  in  the  country. 
The  best  educated  and  most  conscientious 
teachers  are  employed,  and  no  small  amount 
of  money  is  yearly  expended  in  various 
channels  by  efficient  committees,  to  secure 
important  results.  Whatever  has  a  ten- 
dency to  advance  the  pupils  and  elevate 
the  schools,  is  made  available  in  every  pos- 
sible direction.  It  is  questionable  if  in 
any  large  city  of  the  Union  as  much  rigid 
care  is  observed  to  educate  the  young  and 
to  prepare  them  for  the  varied  duties  of 
life.  The  schools  of  Boston  are  distin- 
guished as  model  institutions,  and  the 
youth  who  are  trained  in  them,  being  thor- 


1 8  MASTER   TILESTON. 

oughly  prepared  for  any  department  in  sci- 
ence or  trade,  find  no  difficulty  in  securing 
desirable  positions  ;  the  fact  of  their  gradu- 
ation being  a  guarantee  of  their  fitness, 
and  the  best  recommendation  they  could 
offer.  Many  of  our  successful  merchants, 
our  statesmen,  philosophers,  and  clergymen, 
have  graduated  from  the  Boston  schools, 
and  are  now  exerting  a  wide  and  salutary 
influence,  not  only  in  New  England,  but 
wherever  civilization  and  religion  have  a 
dominance.  That  our  schools  may  con- 
tinue to  flourish  and  send  forth  streams  to 
elevate  and  bless  our  common  country  and 
the  world  at  large,  should  be  the  prayer  of 
every  moralist  and  every  Christian. 


EARLY  TEACHERS. 


EZEKIEL   CHEEVER. 

EZEKIEL  CHEEVER  was  born  in  London, 
January  25,  1614,  and  in  1637,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three  years,  he  came  to  New 
England,  landing  in  Boston.  In  the  fall 
of  the  same  year  we  find  him  in  New 
Haven,  where,  in  1638,  he  commenced 
teaching  a  public  school,  and  where  he 
continued  his  labors  for  about  a  dozen 
years.  In  1650  Mr.  Cheever  removed  to 
Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  taking  charge  of  a 
free  school.  After  teaching  eleven  years 
in  this  place,  and  making  his  school  "  fa- 
mous in  all  the  country,"  he  removed  to 
Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  in  1661,  to 
take  charge  of  a  free  town  school  that  had 
been  established  in  the  place.  After  labor- 
ing nine  years  in  Charlestown,  he  removed 
to  Boston,  January  6,  1670,  where,  not- 


2O  MASTER   TILESTON. 

withstanding  his  age,  he  continued  to  teach 
the  "  Free  Schoole"  for  a  period  of  thirty- 
eight  years.  When  he  took  charge  of  this 
school  "  it  was  agreed  and  ordered,"  by 
the  committee,  "  that  Ezechiell  Cheevers 
should  be  installed  in  the  free  schoole  as 
head  master  thereof :  likewise  that  Mr. 
Thomson  should  be  invited  to  be  an  assist- 
ant to  Mr.  Cheevers  in  his  worke  in  the 
schoole."  It  was  also  agreed  "  that  the 
said  Mr.  Cheevers  should  be  allowed  sixty 
pounds  p.  an.  for  his  service  in  the 
schoole,  out  of  the  towne  rates,  and  the  pos- 
session and  use  of  ye  schoole  house." 

Mr.  Cheever  was  the  author  of  one  or 
two  school  books  and  a  volume  of  three 
short  essays  on  the  Prophecies.  He  died 
August  21,  1708,  aged  ninety-four  years, 
after  having  taught  school  for  seventy 
years.  Cotton  Mather  preached  a  sermon 
on  the  death  of  Mr.  Cheever,  a  copy  of 
which  lies  before  me.  "  He  Dy'd,  Longing 
for  Death,"  the  good  Doctor  remarks. 

At  the  close  of  his  sermon,  Mr.  Mather 
gives  a  quaint  poem  entitled, 


EARLY  TEACHERS.          21 
GRATITUDINIS  ERGO. 

The  master  was 

"  Praised  and  Lov'd  of  Well-instructed  Youth," 
and, 

'.'  All  the  Eight  parts  of  Speech  he  taught  to  them, 
They  now  Employ  to  Trumpet  his  esteem." 

To  "  proclaim  to  Posterity  "  the  worth 
of  so  excellent  a  man,  we  are  told  that 

"  Ink  is  too  vile  a  Liquor  ;  Liquid  Gold 
Should  fill  the  Pen,  by  which  such  things  are  told." 

Mr.  Cheever  was  twice  married.  His 
first  wife,  a  New  Haven  woman,  died  in 
1649.  His  second  wife,  Ellen  Lothrop,  of 
Salem,  died  in  1706.  He  left  several 
children  whose  posterity  are  numerous 
throughout  New  England.  The  late  Ira 
Cheever,  deacon  of  the  Central  Church  in 
Chelsea,  Massachusetts,  and  for  many  years 
a  teacher  in  Salem,  Marblehead,  and  Bos- 
ton, was  a  descendant  of  Master  Cheever. 


22  MASTER   TILESTON. 


SAMUEL    MOODY. 

SAMUEL  MOODY,  for  thirty  years  Pre- 
ceptor of  Dummer  Academy  at  Newbury, 
Byfield  Parish,  Massachusetts,  was  born  in 
York,  Maine,  in  1725  ;  and  was  a  son  of 
Rev.  Joseph  Moody.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1 746,  and  taught  school 
in  his  native  town  until  he  was  called  to 
take  charge  of  the  Academy.  Mr.  Moody 
was  a  thorough  Greek  and  Latin  scholar, 
and  prepared  for  college  many  a  student 
who  became  celebrated  in  after  life. 
Among  his  pupils  in  York  and  Newbury 
were  President  Willard,  of  Harvard  ;  Caleb 
Strong,  Governor  of  Massachusetts;  Ed- 
ward Preble,  the  distinguished  Commo- 
dore; Judge  Stephen  Longfellow,  grand- 
father of  the  poet ;  Theophilus  Parsons, 
and  Rufus  King. 

Mr.  Moody  was  a  remarkably  faithful  in- 
structor, and  labored  indefatigably  to  im- 
press upon  the  minds  of  his  scholars  their 
duties  to  each  other  and  to  their  Creator. 
He  was  exemplary  in  the  discharge  of  every 


EARLY    TEACHERS.  23 

duty,  and  prompt  in  all  his  engagements. 
He  died  in  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  De- 
cember 14,  1795,  aged  seventy  years. 


BEZALEEL    CUSHMAN. 

BEZALEEL  CUSHMAN,  a  native  of  Hebron, 
Maine,  was  born  September  14,  1785.  His 
father  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  the 
town.  Naturally  a  studious  boy,  at  the 
age  of  sixteen  years  he  had  acquired  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  common  rudiments 
of  education,  and  was  thought  competent 
to  teach  a  district  school,  which  he  did  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  committee;  but 
feeling  the  need  of  a  more  thorough  educa- 
tion, he  prepared  himself  for  college,  and 
entered  Dartmouth,  supporting  himself 
by  teaching  during  his  vacations.  Mr. 
Cushman  graduated  in  1811,  in  a  class, 
several  of  whom  became  celebrated. 
Among  others,  Amos  Kendall,  Postmas- 
ter-General ;  Nathaniel  H.  Carter,  whose 


24  MASTER   TILESTON. 

letters  from  Europe,  several  years  ago,  at- 
tracted no  little  attention,  and  which  in 
1825  were  published  in  two  octavo  vol- 
umes ;  Caleb  Chase,  for  several  years  a 
teacher  in  Portland  and  other  places ; 
William  Cogswell,  D.  D.,  first  editor  of  the 
GenedKogical  Register ;  Chief-Justice  Joel 
Parker  and  Ether  Shepley,  LL.D. 

In  1815  Mr.  Cushman  took  charge  of 
the  Portland  Academy,  and  for  twenty- 
six  years  continued  in  the  faithful  perform- 
ance of  his  duties.  Among  his  pupils 
were  Stephen  Longfellow,  Jr.,  Henry  W. 
Longfellow,  Edward  Cutter,  Edward  Preble, 
Sumner  Cummings,  Neal  Dow,  and  our 
venerable  friend,  John  Bagley,  of  Portland. 
The  latter  two  only  are  living. 

In  1841  Mr.  Cushman  relinquished  his 
duties  as  teacher,  and  obtained  through  the 
influence  of  his  former  pupils,  a  situation 
as  Surveyor  of  the  Port  of  Portland,  which 
position  he  retained  for  the  space  of  ten 
years.  He  was  subsequently  clerk  of 
the  Atlantic  and  St.  Lawrence  Railroad 
Company. 


EARLY    TEACHERS.  2$ 

A  conscientious,  upright,  Christian  gen- 
tleman, for  a  long  period  Mr.  Cushman 
was  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  First  Parish 
Church  in  Portland.  He  died  June  21, 
1857,  aged  seventy-one  years  and  nine 
months. 


JOSEPH    LIBBY. 

JOSEPH  LIBBY  was  born  in  Buxton,  Maine, 
December  13,  1793.  He  learned  the  trade 
of  a  blacksmith,  but  seriously  injuring 
himself  while  at  work,  he  was  not  able  to 
continue  his  laborious  employment,  and 
commenced  a  course  of  study  preparatory 
to  a  collegiate  education.  He  entered  Bow- 
doin,  and  graduated  in  1821,  in  the  class 
which  contained  among  others  William 
Cutter,  Daniel  Clark  and  Joseph  Howard. 

Soon  after  leaving  college  Mr.  Libby 
was  chosen  principal  of  the  High  School  in 
Portland,  which  had  just  been  established, 
where  he  continued  a  faithful  and  efficient 


26  MASTER  TILESTON. 

teacher  for  nearly  thirty  years,  preparing 
scores  of  young  men  for  entering  college, 
and  for  various  duties  in  life.  The  writer 
was  one  of  his  pupils  in  1824.  Among  our 
school-mates  at  this  period  were  Bishop 
Horatio  Southgate  ;  Edward  Payson,  son  of 
the  distinguished  divine,  and  the  author  of 
several  entertaining  works ;  Charles  A. 
Stackpole,  an  able  writer  and  ready 
speaker ;  Rev.  Silas  Ilsley,  a  Baptist 
clergyman ;  Professor  Henry  B.  Smith,  a 
distinguished  theologian ;  Deacon  E.  F. 
Duren,  the  indefatigable  scribe  of  the 
Maine  Congregational  Conference;  Judge 
Edward  Fox,  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  that 
Maine  has  produced  ;  Charles  Duren,  now 
settled  over  a  Congregational  church  in 
Vermont ;  Jason  Shaw,  who  entered 
Waterville  College  and  died  while  an 
undergraduate;  and  several  others  who 
have  been  more  or  less  distinguished. 

For  more  than  a  third  of  a  century 
Mr.  Libby  was  a  deacon  in  the  Third  Par- 
ish Church,  and  for  as  long  a  period  he 
was  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school 


EARLY    TEACHERS.  2/ 

connected  with  the  parish.  Always  ready 
to  speak  in  public,  he  took  an  active  part 
in  the  conference  meetings,  and  his  seat 
was  seldom  vacant. 

In  1850  Mr.  Libby  resigned  his  position 
as  principal  of  the  high  school ;  at  which 
time  a  large  number  of  his  former  pupils 
assembled,  and  made  arrangements  for  a 
public  meeting,  to  present  to  their  faithful 
teacher  some  memorial  of  their  respect 
and  love. 

A  committee  was  chosen  for  this  purpose, 
consisting  of  the  following  :  Jedediah  Jew- 
ett,  Charles  A.  Stackpole,  Edward  Fox, 
John  Appleton,  D.  C.  Colesworthy,  Ed- 
ward P.  Haines,  Franklin  C.  Moody,  Syl- 
vester B.  Beckett,  and  James  Merrill;  all 
of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  Charles  A. 
Stackpole  and  the  writer,  after  a  period  of 
thirty-five  years,  have  passed  away. 

Accordingly  in  August  the  old  pupils 
convened  and  presented  to  Mr.  Libby  a 
beautiful  silver  pitcher.  John  Appleton, 
then  a  member  of  Congress,  made  an 
appropriate  address,  which  was  happily 


28  MASTER    TILESTON. 

responded  to   by  Mr.  Libby.     It  was  an 
interesting  occasion  to  all  concerned. 

Mr.  Libby  died  August  27,  1871,  aged 
seventy-  seven  years. 


HENRY   JACKSON. 

HENRY  JACKSON  was  born  in  Chichester, 
New  Hampshire,  August  i,  1783.  For 
several  years  he  taught  school  in  various 
towns  in  his  native  State,  until  1811,  when 
he  was  called  to  teach  in  Portsmouth. 
There  he  remained,  faithful  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties,  until  1824,  when  the  school 
committee  of  Portland  induced  him  to  re- 
move to  that  town  and  take  charge  of  one 
of  the  principal  schools  in  the  place.  He 
continued  his  labors  for  the  space  of  twenty- 
six  years,  when  in  1850,  on  the  22d  day 
of  August,  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
seven  years. 

In  the  winter  of  1828  Mr.  Jackson 
taught  an  evening  school  for  young  trades- 


EARLY    TEACHERS.  2Q 

men  and  apprentices,  where  we  had  the 
pleasure  of  being  numbered  among  his 
pupils.  Cyrus  Hamlin,  LL.D.,  the  distin- 
guished missionary,  and  now  President  of 
Middlebury  College,  was  also  one  of  the 
scholars.  On  one  occasion  Mr.  Jackson 
gave  out  the  subject  of  profane  swearing 
as  an  essay  for  the  pupils  to  write  upon. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  decide  to 
whom  the  prize  should  be  awarded,  and  it 
fell  to  Cyrus  Hamlin. 

Mr.  Jackson  for  several  years  was  a 
member  of  the  Third  Parish  Church.  At 
the  formation  of  the  High  Street  Church 
in  1831,  he  was  set  off  with  the  writer 
and  several  others,  to  help  form  the  new 
society,  where  he  continued  an  active  and 
useful  member  until  the  day  of  his  death. 

Kind,  genial,  and  intelligent,  Mr.  Jack- 
son secured  the  love  and  affection,  not  only 
of  his  pupils,  but  of  scores  of  friends  who 
sadly  grieved  when  he  departed.  Mr. 
Jackson  was  the  author  of  an  arithmetic 
that  was  used  for  many  years  in  the  schools 
of  Portland. 


3<D  MASTER    TILESTON. 

His  old  pupils  have  erected  over  the 
remains  of  Mr.  Jackson  a  substantial  monu- 
ment as  a  token  of  their  respect  for  his 
memory. 


FRANCIS   GARDNER. 

FRANCIS  GARDNER  was  born  in  Walpole, 
New  Hampshire,  March  15,  1812,  and 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1831,  in 
the  class  with  Nathaniel  B.  Shurtleff,  John 
Lothrop  Motley,  George  C.  Shattuck,  Wen- 
dell Phillips,  John  H.  Morrison,  and  other 
men  of  distinction.  Soon  after  leaving 
college  he  took  charge  of  the  Boston  Latin 
School,  where  he  remained  a  devoted  and 
efficient  instructor  until  his  death  —  a 
period  of  more  than  forty  years.  Mr.  Gard- 
ner probably  fitted  more  pupils  for  college 
than  any  other  teacher  in  New  England. 

In  1843  Mr.  Gardner  with  great  labor 
prepared  a  dictionary  of  the  Latin  Ian- 


EARLY    TEACHERS.  31 

guage,  which  has  oeen  extensively  used  in 
Boston  and  other  places. 

Mr.  Gardner  died  January  10,  1876,  aged 
nearly  sixty-four  years. 


CALEB  CHASE. 

CALEB  CHASE  was  born  in  Chester,  New 
Hampshire,  February  4,  1783.  He  was  a 
descendant  of  Aquila  Chase,  who  emigrated 
to  this  country  and  settled  in  Hampton, 
New  Hampshire,  in  1640.  Mr.  Chase  fitted 
for  college  at  Phillips  Academy,  Andover, 
and  in  1807  entered  Dartmouth  College. 
While  an  undergraduate  he  connected  him- 
self with  the  Congregational  church,  under 
the  care  of  Rev.  Roswell  Shurtleff.  Grad- 
uating in  1811,  he  commenced  teaching  in 
Bradford,  Massachusetts.  In  1817  we  find 
him  in  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  where 
he  taught  the  principal  school  in  the  place 
for  two  or  three  years.  In  1820  Mr.  Chase 
removed  to  Portland,  Maine,  and  took  charge 


32  MASTER   TILESTON. 

of  the  center  Grammar  School,  as  successor 
to  Mr.  Hugh  Prince.  The  school-house  was 
on  Back  Street,  now  Congress  Street,  oppo- 
site the  Third  Parish  Church.  The  build- 
ing was  burnt  in  the  great  fire  of  July  4, 
1866,  which  destroyed  nearly  one  third  of 
the  city.  Mr.  Chase,  whose  health  was 
impaired,  relinquished  his  charge  and  was 
succeeded  by  Mr.  Albert  Winslow. 

After  Mr.  Chase  gave  up  teaching,  for  a 
season  he  kept  a  grocery  store  in  Portland, 
and  died  September  20,  1850,  aged  sixty- 
seven  years  and  seven  months.  The  ser- 
vices at  his  funeral  were  conducted  by  his 
pastor,  the  late  Rev.  Wm.  T.  D wight,  D.D. 

Mr.  Chase  married  Susan  Burrill,  who 
died  in  1856.  He  left  several  children. 
William  Dwight  Chase,  of  Brooklyn,  New 
York,  is  the  youngest  son  of  Mr.  Chase. 


JOHN  TILESTON. 


AMONG  the  early  settlers  of  New  Eng- 
land we  frequently  find  the  name  of  Tileston. 
John,  son  of  Timothy  and  Hannah  Tiles- 
ton,  who  was  born  in  Dorchester,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1701,  was  the  father  of  John 
Tileston,  who  married  Rebekah  Fowles, 
January  21,  1730.  These  were  the  parents 
of  JOHN  TILESTON,  who  was  born  in  Bos- 
ton, February  27,  1735.  When  John  was 
an  infant,  he  was  severely  burnt  by  falling 
into  the  fire,  and  the  consequence  was  so 
serious  an  injury  to  one  of  his  hands  that 
the  complete  use  of  his  fingers  he  never 
recovered.  He  was  thus  incapacitated 
for  mechanical  or  other  employments  that 
required  the  full  use  of  his  hands.  Not- 
withstanding this  affliction  the  defective 
hand  became  perfectly  adapted  to  the  hold- 
ing of  a  pen  and  for  writing.  After  leav- 


34  MASTER    TILESTON. 

ing  school,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  young 
Tileston  was  placed  under  the  care  of 
Zachariah  Hicks,  master  of  the  North 
Writing  School,  in  Boston,  where  he 
served  faithfully  an  apprenticeship  of  six  or 
seven  years.  A  portion  of  this  period  Mr. 
Tileston  was  a  school-mate  of  John  Adams, 
the  second  President  of  the  United  States, 
who  through  a  long  and  busy  life  tenderly 
remembered  his  early  friend.  They  both 
died  the  same  year. ' 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  October  23, 
1760,  Mr.  Tileston  was  married  to  Lydia 
Coffin,  daughter  of  Charles  and  Mary 
Barrett  Coffin. 

In  1762  Master  Hicks  resigned  his  posi- 
tion, and  Mr.  Tileston  was  elected  principal 
instructor  in  the  school,  which  position  he 
retained,  to  the  satisfaction  of  several 
committees,  until  he  reached  the  advanced 
age  of  eighty-five  years,  when  in  1819,  feel- 
ing the  infirmities  of  years  increasing,  with 
the  decay  of  strength,  natural  to  so  long 
and  laborious  a  life,  he  found  it  neces- 


JOHN    TILESTON.  35 

sary  to  resign  and  retire  from  his  active 
duties. 

As  Mr.  Tileston  had  devoted  more  than 
seventy  years  to  instructing  the  young,  the 
committee  were  induced  to  continue  his 
salary  as-  long  as  he  lived.  His  death 
occurred  on  Friday,  October  13,  1826, 
when  he  had  nearly  completed  his  ninety- 
second  year,  and  after  a  happy  married  life 
of  sixty-six  years.  Services  at  his  funeral 
were  held  at  his  late  residence,  No.  65, 
Prince  Street,  on  Saturday,  where  many  of 
his  fellow-citizens  and  his  old  pupils  col- 
lected to  pay  their  respects  to  one  greatly 
beloved.  His  body  was  interred  in  the 
Granary  burial  ground.  His  wife,  Lydia, 
survived  him  four  or  five  years,  and  died 
May  21,  1831,  aged  ninety-five  years. 
Provision  had  been  made  by  the  proper 
authorities  to  continue  a  salary  sufficient 
for  the  support  of  Mrs.  Tileston  during  her 
life. 

Mr.  Tileston's  will  is  dated  March  5, 
1814.  He  left  to  his  wife  the  property  he 


36  MASTER   TILESTON. 

possessed.  The  witnesses  to  the  will  were 
Nathan  Webb,  Mary  Field,  and  Thad- 
deus  Page. 

Mrs.  Tileston's  will  is  dated  October  20, 
1827.  According  to  the  schedule  her  prop- 
erty amounted  to  $5,233.67,  which  she  left 
to  a  nephew  and  four  nieces,  with  a  portion 
to  Sophia  Webb. 

Although  Mr.  Tileston  was  not  wealthy, 
he  had  frequent  opportunities,  which  he 
cheerfully  improved,  of  bestowing  chari- 
ties liberally  on  the  unfortunate  and  desti- 
tute. Sympathizing  with  the  poor  and 
distressed,  he  was  one  of  the  original 
projectors  of  the  Massachusetts  Charitable 
Society,  which  was  one  of  the  first  benevo- 
lent institutions  in  the  Commonwealth. 
He  invariably  attended  the  meetings  of  its 
members,  which  comprised  many  of  the 
most  respected  and  influential  citizens  of 
Boston. 

The  late  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  who  was 
a  pupil  of  Mr.  Tileston,  and  who  was  inti- 
mate with  him  as  long  as  he  lived,  once 
remarked :  "  The  only  murmurs  I  ever 


JOHN    TILESTON.  37 

knew  him  to  utter  were  when  he  could  do 
no  more  good ;  yet  as  fast  as  he  had  the 
ability,  he  poured  the  oil  and  the  wine  upon 
such  as  stood  in  need  of  assistance." 

Mr.  Tileston  was  a  strict  disciplinarian, 
and  his  reproofs  were  administered  with 
impartiality,  and  his  punishments  with  rare 
judgment,  as  I  have  heard  my  father,  who 
was  one  of  his  pupils,  often  remark.  He 
never  left  in  the  minds  of  his  scholars  a 
feeling  of  disgust  or  rancor.  They  re- 
spected and  loved  him,  even  when  he  was 
administering  the  severest  reproofs. 

Mr.  Tileston's  chirography  was  very 
uniform  and  neat,  as  I  have  noticed  in  the 
copy  books  in  my  possession,  left  by  my 
father.  The  copies  were  written  by  the 
master,  and  the  scholars  endeavored  to 
imitate  them.  I  have  seen  the  handwrit- 
ing of  many  of  Mr.  Tileston's  pupils,  who 
generally  were  excellent  penmen.  Mr. 
Caleb  Bingham,  author  of  the  American 
Preceptor  and  the  Columbian  Orator,  who 
was  for  many  years  an  usher  in  the  North 
Writing  School,  under  Mr.  Tileston,  wrote 


38  MASTER   TILESTON. 

also  a  beautiful  hand.  I  have  before  me  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Bingham  to  my  old  friend, 
the  late  Stephen  Patten,  of  Portland,  who 
was  for  a  season  an  instructor  in  the 
school,  which  is  a  fine  specimen  of  pencraft. 
As  a  portion  of  the  letter  relates  to  the 
school,  I  give  an  extract  It  is  dated 
Boston,  August  29,  1792:  "I  know  you 
will  participate  in  my  joy,  when  I  inform 
you  that  I  have  gained  a  complete  victory 
over  my  school-boys.  They  are  now  near- 
ly as  still  in  the  school  as  the  girls.  I  was 
obliged  to  relinquish  my  method  of  detain- 
ing them  after  school,  on  account  of  Mr. 
C.'s  conduct.  I  resolved  then  to  bring  the 
matter  to  a  crisis,  and  know  whether  I  was 
master  or  not.  I  laid  aside  all  books  for  the 
day  and  spent  it  in  preaching.  The  next 
day  I  undertook  to  find  what  virtue  there 
was  in  the  old  maple  whig  of  seventy-six* 
I  belabored  them  from  day  to  day,  till  they 
finally  gave  me  the  victory.  Now  and 
then  an  old  woman,  and  a  few  who  are 


1  This  was  a  large  ferule  which  had  been  used  in 
the  school  for  many  years. 


JOHN    TILESTON.  39 

not  worthy  the  name  of  men,  and  who 
oppose  the  doctrines  of  our  forefathers, 
have  murmured,  and  complained  to  the 
committee.  But  the  boys  are  silent  in 
school,  and  that  is  the  main  object  with  us; 
and  I  hope  we  shall  be  able  to  silence  their 
parents.  A  certain  Mr.  Adams,  whom  we 
used  to  hear  from  last  winter,  came  into 
the  school  this  day  with  a  complaint 
against  the  usher,  and  told  us  that  he 
would  not  allow  of  his  boys'  receiving  cor- 
poral punishment  on  any  occasion  what- 
ever. We  shall,  therefore,  expel  them  for 
the  next  offence." 

The  good  penmanship,  for  which  Bos- 
tonians  have  always  been  famous,  is  due  in 
a  great  measure  to  the  labors  of  Mr.  Tiles- 
ton  and  his  assistants,  Mr.  Bingham,  Mr. 
Carter,  and  others.  The  merchants,  me- 
chanics, and  even  the  laborers  of  Boston, 
eighty,  ninety,  and  a  hundred  years  ago, 
who  were  taught  in  Mr.  Tileston's  school, 
seemed  to  be  particularly  uniform  and  cor- 
rect in  their  penmanship.  A  glance  at 
old  letters,  day-books  and  journals  of  this 


4O  MASTER    TILESTON. 

period,  is  convincing  proof  of  the  thorough- 
ness with  which  the  pupils  were  drilled. 

Previous  to  1789  there  were  few  if  any 
of  the  public  schools  in  Boston  where 
English  grammar  and  some  other  branches 
of  education  were  thoroughly  taught,  and 
so  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  master  of  the 
writing  school  to  teach  spelling,  reading, 
and  grammar,  and  Mr.  Tileston  was  equal 
to  the  task.  To  this  portion  of  his  duties 
Mr.  Tileston  gave  particular  attention. 
He  devoted  several  hours  each  day,  from 
which  nothing  diverted  him,  to  the  training 
of  his  pupils.  In  early  life  I  noticed  that 
the  Bostonians,  who  were  taught  in  Mr. 
Tileston's  school,  were  excellent  readers 
and  generally  correct  in  their  spelling,  and 
seemed  well  fitted  for  almost  any  position 
in  life.  So  much  for  the  judicious  and 
persevering  labors  of  a  faithful  and  devoted 
teacher,  who  was  a  thorough  disciplinarian 
and  sincerely  loved  his  employment. 

Afternoons,  when  school  was  not  kept, 
Mr.  Tileston  usually  employed  his  hours 
of  relaxation,  when  the  weather  was  favor- 


JOHN    TILESTON.  4! 

able,  in  fishing  in  the  harbor,  or  in  riding 
through  the  neighboring  towns.  Frequent- 
ly he  took  extended  walks,  accompanied 
by  some  of  his  friends,  which  he  seemed 
particularly  to  enjoy.  He  was  often  asso- 
ciated with  two  or  three  of  his  former 
pupils,  who  esteemed  it  a  perfect  treat  to 
walk  or  ride  beside  the  "  Master,"  as  he 
was  familiarly  called,  so  dearly  cherished 
and  tenderly  beloved.  The  anecdotes  and 
reminiscences  of  former  pupils,  and  of 
earlier  days,  which  he  rehearsed,  afforded 
much  diversion  to  them  all.  On  Com- 
mencement, Election,  and  Independence 
days,  he  usually  visited  among  his  friends 
abroad,  where  he  was  cordially  received 
and  bountifully  entertained. 

When  his  old  pupils  visited  Boston,  after 
a  long  absence,  it  gave  him  rare  pleasure 
to  invite  them  to  his  house,  where  he 
amply  repaid  them  for  their  former  kind- 
nesses. 

October  24,  1789,  was  a  proud  day  for 
Boston,  and  for  Mr.  Tileston  in  particular. 
The  illustrious  personage,  George  Wash- 


42  MASTER   TILESTON. 

ington,  was  to  visit  the  place,  and  exten- 
sive preparations  were  made  by  the  town 
authorities  to  receive  him.  And  the  no 
little  interesting  part  of  the  programme 
was  the  appearance  of  the  school  children 
in  town,  neatly  dressed,  with  quills  in  their 
hands,  full  of  smiles  and  radiant  with  de- 
light. My  father,  Daniel  P.  Colesworthy, 
who  died  in  Portland,  in  1852,  was  one  of 
Mr.  Tileston's  pupils  at  this  period.  At 
my  request  he  wrote  an  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  occurrence  which  follows : 

"  When  General  Washington  visited 
Boston  I  was  a  school-boy.  The  day 
before  he  arrived  Master  Tileston  told  all 
the  boys  to  come  to  school  the  next  morn- 
ing with  clean  faces,  and  dressed  in  their 
best  clothes ;  each  one  to  be  particular  to 
bring  a  quill  with  him.  We  followed  our 
master's  instructions,  and  accordingly  the 
next  morning  we  marched  with  the  schol- 
ars belonging  to  the  other  schools  in  town; 
our  school  taking  the  precedence,  and  the 
South  End  school  following  in  the  rear. 
We  marched  to  Washington  Street,  as  far 


JOHN    TILESTON.  43 

as  the  upper  corner  of  Exchange  Street, 
where  we  halted  —  opened  to  the  right  and 
left  and  formed  a  line  on  each  side  of  the 
street,  from  Exchange  Street  to  the  Old 
South  Church.  At  about  half  past  ten 
o'clock  the  cannon  on  the  Neck  announced 
Washington  crossing  the  line  between 
Boston  and  Roxbury.  The  companies  of 
militia  of  Boston  and  vicinity  were  out  to 
escort  him.  A  stage  or  bridge  was  built 
from  the  Old  State  House  to  the  stores  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  with  arches 
underneath.  It  was  covered  with  damask. 
Here  the  Governor  and  Council  received 
him.  An  anthem  was  sung,  as  Washing- 
ton, with  his  hat  in  his  hand,  passed  by  us 
on  his  light  gray  horse.  We  rolled  our 
quills  between  our  hands,  that  the  General 
might  notice  us.  When  school  was  dis- 
missed we  called  to  see  him,  each  one  mak- 
ing a  bow,  which  he  politely  returned.  I 
saw  him  several  times  afterwards." 

Mr.  Tileston,  being  an  unobtrusive  man, 
never  expressed  himself  in  a  positive  or  dic- 
tatorial spirit.  He  was  social  and  kind  to 


44  MASTER   TILESTON. 

the  most  humble,  and  delighted  especially 
to  converse  with  little  children.  He  was 
indeed  a  friend  to  the  poor  and  unfortu- 
nate, and  all  classes  felt  perfect  freedom  in 
his  presence.  He  had  no  children  of  his 
own,  and  so  he  seemed  to  be  the  parent  of 
his  whole  school ;  looking  after  them, 
advising  with  them,  and  leading  them  in 
paths  of  virtue  and  happiness.  And  so 
for  years  his  memory  was  cherished  by  his 
pupils,  till  one  and  another  yielded  to  the 
divine  mandate  and  passed  away,  to  rejoin 
their  master,  as  we  trust,  in  a  better  world. 
The  following  is  a  proof  of  the  little 
esteem  in  which  Mr.  Tileston  held  himself. 
Several  of  his  former  pupils  proposed  to 
raise  a  sufficient  sum  of  money  to  secure  a 
full  length  portrait  of  himself,  to  be  painted 
by  the  celebrated  Stuart,  and  after  it  was 
finished  to  place  it  in  Faneuil  Hall,  or  in 
some  other  public  place,  but  he  would  not 
consent.  Finally,  after  much  persuasion,  he 
reluctantly  yielded  to  the  earnest  desires 
of  his  friends.  Thinking  seriously  over 
the  matter,  and  feeling  that  no  former 


JOHN    TILESTON.  45 

school-master  had  been  thus  honored,  he 
prevailed  upon  the  gentlemen  to  relinquish 
their  design. 

In  speaking  of  Mr.  Tileston,  Edward  Ever- 
ett remarks  :  "  Master  Tileston  was  a  writ- 
ing-master of  the  old  school.  He  set  the 
copies  himself,  and  taught  that  beautiful 
old  Boston  handwriting,  which,  if  I  do  not 
mistake,  has  in  the  march  of  innovation 
(which  is  not  always  the  same  thing  as  im- 
provement) been  changed  very  little  for 
the  better.  Master  Tileston  was  advancd 
in  years,  and  had  found  a  qualification  for 
his  calling  as  a  writing-master  in  what 
might  have  seemed,  at  first,  to  threaten  to 
be  an  obstruction.  The  fingers  of  his 
right  hand  had  been  contracted  and  stiff- 
ened in  early  life  by  a  burn,  but  were  fixed 
in  just  the  position  to  hold  a  pen  and  a 
penknife,  and  nothing  else.  As  they  were 
also  considerably  indurated,  they  served  as 
a  convenient  instrument  of  discipline.  A 
copy  badly  written,  or  a  blotted  page,  was 
sometimes  visited  with  an  infliction  which 
would  have  done  no  discredit  to  the  beak 


46  MASTER   TILESTON. 

of  a  bald  eagle.  His  long,  deep  desk  was 
a  perfect  curiosity  shop  of  confiscated  balls, 
tops,  penknives,  marbles,  and  jewsharps, 
the  accumulation  of  forty  years.  I  desire, 
,  however,  to  speak  of  him  with  gratitude  ; 
for  he  put  me  on  the  track  of  an  acquisi- 
tion which  has  been  extremely  useful  to 
me  in  after  life  —  that  of  a  plain,  legible 
hand." 

Hundreds  have  remembered  Mr.  Tiles- 
ton  with  the  same  grateful  feelings.  There 
are  but  few  living  who  attended  his  school. 
I  know  of  but  two  or  three,  and  it  was  at 
a  period  when  Mr.  Tileston  was  so  infirm 
that  he  did  little  except  to  superintend  the 
school,  leaving  the  care  of  the  pupils  to  his 
ushers.  The  descendants  of  his  scholars 
are  scattered  all  over  New  England,  and, 
indeed,  they  may  be  found  in  nearly  every 
State  in  the  Union. 


It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  we  have  not 
a  complete  list  of  the  names  of  Mr.  Tiles- 
ton's  scholars,  which  number  many  thou- 


JOHN    TILESTON.  47 

sands  during  a  period  of  more  than  seventy 
years,  but  when  he  taught  in  colonial  times, 
and  in  the  early  days  of  the  republic,  as 
much  care  was  not  taken  as  at  the  present 
period  to  keep  a  perfect  record.  The  first 
list  comprises  the  names  of  those  who  at- 
tended his  school  from  1761  to  1765,  and 
the  second  from  1778  to  1789.  We  have 
no  list  of  the  scholars  from  1766  to  1777; 
a  period  of  eight  or  nine  years.  Neither 
have  we  a  record  of  those  who  were  his 
pupils  beyond  the  year  1789.  If  there 
were  records  kept  we  have  not  been  able 
to  find  them.  However,  what  we  have 
given  will,  I  doubt  not,  interest  the  de- 
scendants of  Mr.  Tileston's  scholars,  where- 
ever  they  may  have  taken  up  their  abode. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present 
century,  several  of  his  old  pupils  removed 
to  Portland,  as  business  was  comparatively 
dull  in  Boston ;  inducements  being  held 
out  by  the  merchants  of  this  thriving  town, 
in  the  district  of  Maine.  Among  others 
we  may  mention  the  names  of  Baker, 
Boyd,  Capen,  Cobbit,  Colesworthy,  Collins, 


48  MASTER    TILESTON. 

Ingraham,  Mountfort,  Pittman,  Smith,  and 
Williams.  Others  went  further  east,  and 
their  posterity  are  numerous  in  the  State 
of  Maine. 

The  diary  of  Mr.  Tileston  is  a  meager 
one ;  but  we  have  extracted  from  it  every 
line  that  would  be  likely  to  interest  the 
children  of  old  Bostonians,  and  the  de- 
scendants of  his  pupils. 


SCHOLARS 


WHO    ATTENDED    JOHN    TILESTON  S    SCHOOL 
FROM    1761    TO    1765. 


Adams,  Abraham 
Adams,  Benjamin 
Allen,  John 
Andrews,  John 
Archibald,  Edward 
Atkins,  Charles 
Atkins,  Henry 
Atkins,  Nathaniel 
Atkins,  Silas 
Audebart,  Josiah 
Audebart,  Philip 
Ayers,  Henry 
Badger,  Abel 
Badger,  Stephen 
Baker,  John 
Ballard,  Benjamin 
Barber,  George 


Barber,  Nathaniel 
Barnett,  Samuel 
Barns,  Thomas 
Barrett,  Samuel 
Bass,  Joseph 
Bass,  Philip 
Bazin,  Thomas 
Bell,  Daniel 
Bell,  William 
Bennet,  Michael 
Bennet,  William 
Bicner,  William 
Bill,  John 
Biordan,  Thomas 
Blasdell,  Ephraim 
Blasdell,  John 
Blunt,  John 


5<D  MASTER    TILESTON. 

Blunt,  Ezekiel  Checkley,  John 

Bouve,  Gibbon  Sharp  Checkley,  John  W. 

Brazer,  Edward  Checkley,  Samuel 

Breck,  Daniel  Cheever,       Bartholo- 
Bright,  John  mew 

Brickford,  Alexander  Clark,  Joseph 

Brown,  Ephraim  Clark,  Samuel 

Brown,  Gawen  Clough,  Goodwill 

Brown,  John  Clough,  John 

Brown,  Joseph  Coffin,  Charles 

Brown,  Joseph  L.  Colesworthy,       New- 
Burbeck,  Henry  comb 

Burt,  James  Condy,  Thomas 

Butler,  David  Connell,  James 

Butler,  Ephraim  Coolidge,  Benjamin 

Butler,  Gilliam  Coolidge,  John 

Butler,  Samuel  Coppinger,  Stephen 

Carter,  William  Cross,  John 

Cathcart,  John  Cross,  Joseph 

Cartwright,  Thomas  Cross,  William 

Cartwright,  Timothy  Cullern,  David 

Gary,  James  Cumber,  John 

Gary,  Samuel  Cunningham,  Thos. 

Cazneau,  Joseph  Darracott,  David 

Chadwell,  Benjamin  Darracott,  William 


SCHOLARS. 


Davis,  Solomon 
Dickey,  James 
Dillehunt,  William 
Dinsmore,  Archibald 
Dobel,  John 
Dobel,  Roleson 
Dodge,  Ebenezer 
Dolbear,  Benjamin 
Doster,  Andrew 
Douglass,  John 
Eayers,  Henry 
Eddy,  Joseph 
Edes,  Ebenezer 
Edes,  Jonathan 
Eliot,  John 
Eliot,  Samuel 
Englis,  Thomas 
Eustes,  Joseph 
Farmer,  Thomas 
Foster,  Edward 
Francis,  Archibald 
Freeland,  William 
Gardner,  John 
Gardner,  Thomas 
Gibbons,  Bouve 


Goldthwait,  Thomas 
Gordon,  William 
Grandy,  Joseph 
Greenough,  David 
Greenough,     Nathan- 
iel 

Greenough,  William 
Greenwood,  Isaac 
Griffith,  John 
Hammatt,  Benjamin 
Hammatt,  Joseph 
Hancock,  Samuel 
Harris,  Samuel 
Harris,  William 
Harrod,  James 
Harrod,  Joseph 
Hartt,  Ralph  . 
Hatch,  Ezekiel 
Hatch,  Nolen 
Hayden,  Elkanah 
Heligar,  Peter 

Hemmenway, 

Hervey,  John 
Hill,  Edward 
Hill,  John 


MASTER    TILESTON. 


Hill,  Nathaniel 
Hill,  Samuel 
Hitchborn,  Samuel 
Hobby,  John 
Holland,  Christopher 
Hopkins,  John 
Hooton,  John 
How,  John 
How,  Joseph 
Howard,  Nathaniel 
Howard,  Samuel 
Howland,  Joseph 
Hutchinson,  William 
Ingerfield,  John 
Inglish,  Alexander 
Inglish,  Thomas 
Inglish,  John 
James,  Thomas 
Jenkins,  Benjamin 
Jenkins,  Jonathan 
Jones,  Benjamin 
Jones,  John 
Jones,  John  Coffin 
Kiddle,  James 
Lambert,  Nicholas 


Langdon,  Ephraim 
Langdon,  William 
Larrabee,  Thomas 
Leach,  John 
Lewis,  Jonathan 
Lewis,  Philip 
Lillie,  John 
Loring,  John 
Lymmes,  William 
Marchant,  William 
Marble,  Thomas 
Marrable,  Thomas 
Marston,  John 
Maverick,  Samuel 
Maverick,  Jotham 
Matthew,  Fairservice 
McArthur,  William 
McCleary,  Robert 
McCleary,  William 
Mclntyre,  Daniel 
Mclntyre,  James 
Mclntyre,  Robert 
McLeod,  Thomas 
Milliken,  James 
Nazro,  Isaac 


SCHOLARS. 


53 


Newell,  Benjamin 
Newell,  John 
Nichols,  William 
Ogilvie,  George 
Orr,  John 
Page,  Benjamin 
Page,  Jonathan 
Paine,  John 
Patten,  Nathaniel 
Philips,  John 
Pierce,  Hardy 
Pigeon,  John 
Prevear,  Edward 
Prichard,  Benjamin 
Prince,  John 
Prince,  Joseph 
Prince,  Thomas 
Procter,  E. 
Procter,  Samuel 
Pulling,  Joseph 
Rand,  Waffe 
Raymant,  Samuel 
Rea,  Nathan 
Rea,  Uriel 
Richards,  William 


Richardson,  Richard 
Richardson,  Thomas 
Rickey,  George 
Riddle,  James 
Riddle,  Thomas 
Ridgeway,  James 
Ridgeway,  Samuel 
Ridgeway,  Thomas 
Ridon,  Thomas 
Robb,  George 
Robb,  James 
Robb,  Thomas 
Roberts,  John 
Roby,  James 
Roby,  William 
Ross,  James 
Ross,  Matthew 
Saltonstall,  Leverett 
Saunders,  Robert 
Shaw,  Francis 
Shaw,  John 
Shaw,  Samuel 
Shaw,  Thomas 
Shaw,  William 
Sheppard,  Thomas 


54 


MASTER   TILESTON. 


Sigourney,  Andrew 
Sigourney,  Anthony 
Sigourney,  Charles 
Sigourney,  Elisha 
Skillin,  Simeon 
Skillin,  Solomon 
Smith,  John  Kilby 
Smith,  William 
Smith,  William  K. 
Smith,  Richard 
Soper,  Benjamin 
Spear,  Nathaniel 
Stavers,      Bartholo- 
mew 

Stevens,  John 
Stevens,  Wiswal 
Stoddard,  Thomas 
Sweatser,  Nathaniel 
Symmes,  William 
Thayer,  Cornelius 
Thomas,  James 
Thomas,  Jonathan 
Townsend,  David 
Townsend,  Thomas 
Treat,  Robert 


Treat,  Samuel 
Trout,  Thomas 
Tudor,  William 
Turell,  Joseph 
Turner,  Simeon 
Vaughan,  David 
Vaughan,  Nathaniel 
Vaughan,  William 
Vernon,  Thomas 
Walker,  Richard 
Walsh,  Jacob 
Walsh,  John 
Webber,  Richard 
Webber,  Seth 
Wells,  Francis 
Wells,  Samuel 
Wendell,  John  P. 
Whatley,  Robert 
White,  John 
Whiting,  Joseph 
Whitney,  William 
Whyte,  James 
Whyte,  John 
Widger,  John 
Willis,  Charles 


SCHOLARS.  55 

Willis,  Nathaniel  Woodman,  Henry 

Williston,  Joseph  Woolven,  John 

Williston,  Josiah  Wotton,  James 

Winter,  Joshua  York,  John 


SCHOLARS 

WHO    ATTENDED    JOHN    TILESTON'S     SCHOOL 
FROM    1778    TO    1789. 


Abrahams,  Ralph  Alley,  Nathaniel 

Abrams,  Joseph  Ames,  Thomas 

Adams,  John  Andrews,  Ebenezer 

Adams,  Joseph  Andrews,  Samuel 

Adams,  Joseph  N.  Andrews,  William 

Adams,  Kidder  Archer,  Philip 

Adams,  Philip  Atten,  Anthony 

Adams,  Thomas  Austin,  Ebenezer 

Adams,  Thomas  V.  Austin,  Thomas 

Alesworth,    Christo-  Avery,  Benjamin 

pher  Baber,  Nathaniel 

Alexander,  Giles  Bachoon,  Benjamin 

Alexander,  William  Badger,  Daniel 


MASTER    TILESTON. 


Badger,  John 
Badger,  Joseph 
Bailey,  Joshua 
Baird,  James 
Baird,  John 
Baird,  Joseph 
Ball,  Isaac  Towns 
Ballard,  Daniel 
Ballard,  John 
Bangs,  Edward 
Barber,  Joseph 
Barber,  William 
Barker,  John 
Barker,  William 
Barnard,  John 
Barnard,  Moses 
Barnes,  Benjamin  B. 
Barret,  Jeremiah 
Barret,  Joshua 
Barret,  William 
Barrett,  Smith  F. 
Barross,  William 
Barton,  Jonathan  P. 
Barton,  William 
Bass,  Elisha 


Bass,  John 
Bass,  Moses 
Bass,  Philip 
Basset,  Edward 
Baty,  Gideon 
Baxter,  Paul 
Bayley,  John 
Bennet,  William 
Bennett,  John 
Bentley,  Samuel 
Berry,  Ebenezer 
Berry,  Thomas 
Blair,  Victor 
Blasland,  Thomas 
Blasland,  William 
Booth,  John 
Booth,  Jonathan 
Bowland,  John 
Boyd,  Ebenezer 
Boyd,  John 
Boyd,  William 
Braden,  Bartholo. 
Bradley,  David 
Bradley,  Moses 
Bragdon,  Nathaniel 


SCHOLARS.  57 

Breck,  Joseph  Carey,  Edward 

Breck,  Samuel  Carey,  William 

Breed,  John  C.  Carlton,  William 

Brown,  Nathaniel  Carpenter,  Samuel 

Brown,  William  Casneau,  William 

Browne,  Gibbins  Caswell,  Samuel 

Browne,  John  Chadwick,  Joseph 

Bruton,  John  Chamberlane,  Thos. 

Buckminster,  David  Chamberlane,  Edw. 

Bulfinch,  Samuel  Champney,  Caleb  D. 

Bullmore,  John  Champney,  Joseph 
Burdit,  James  White  Chandler,  Ebenezer 

Burstead,  Benjamin  Chandler,  John 

Butler,  Anthony  Chandler,  John  T. 

Butler,  James  Chandler,  Joseph 

Cabbot,  Joseph  Cheeseman,  John 

Cades,  Samuel  Cheeseman,  Samuel 

Callender,  Ebenezer  Christy,  James 

Callender,  John  Christy,  Roland 

Campbell,  John  Clark,  Benjamin 

Capen,  Edward  Clark,  John 

Capen,  Stoddard  Clark,  Jonas 

Capen,  Thomas  Clark,  Joseph 

Car,  Benjamin  Clark,  Nathaniel 

Carder,  Richard  Clark,  Samuel 


58  MASTER   TILESTON. 

Clark,  William.  Cornell,  Cornelius 

Cleary,  Robert  Coverly,  John 
Clive,  Philip  George  Craft,  Edward 

Clough,  John  F.  Cross,  Thomas 

Clough,  Joseph  Cunningham,  Wm. 

Clough,  William  Cumber,  John 

Cobbit,  Charles  Curtis,  Benjamin 

Cobbit,  John  Gushing,  Damon 

Cobbit,  Thomas  Custain,  Ezra 

Cobbit,  William  Dakin,  Joseph 

Cole,  Charles  Daly,  John 

Cole,  Elisha  Darricot,  William 

Cole,  Jacob  Davies,  Joshua 

Cole,  Samuel  Davis,  Elisha 

Cole,  Willam  Davis,  John 
Colesworthy,  Dan'l  P.  Davis,  Joseph 
Colesworthy,  Nath'l    Davis,  Nathaniel 

Collins,  Clement  Davis,  Robert 

Collins,  John  Davis,  Samuel 

Colpran,  James  Dawes,  Edward 

Conner,  John  De  Cartevet,  John 

Cook,  James  Devens,  Richard 

Coome,  Ezekiel  Dillaway,  Thomas 

Cooper,  John  Dinsdell,  John 

Cooper,  Samuel  Doak,  John 


SCHOLARS.  59 

Doak,  William  Emmons,  Joshua 

Dodd,  George  Emmons,  William 

Dodge,  Samuel  Fairservice,  Robert 

Dodge,  Unite  Fanning,  James 

Dodge,  William  Fanning,  Thomas 

Dolbeare,  Benjamin  Farnham,  Henry 

Downes,  Isaac  Farnham,  Newark 

Downes,  Shubael  Farrey,  John 

Downes,  Simeon  Farrey,  William 

Drummond,  Andrew  Fellows,  Jonathan 

Drummond,  George  Felts,  Richard 

Dunnell,  Samuel  Fenley,  Robert 

Dyer,  Joseph  Fenno,  William 

Dyer,  William  Fitzgerald,  Thomas 

Edes,  Edward  Flagg,  Benjamin 

Edes,  Thomas  Floyd,  Richard 

Edwards,  Abraham  Folts,  George 

Edwards,  Alexander  Folts,  William 

Edwards,  Richard  Fosdick,  Phineas 

Eliot,  Samuel  Foster,  John 

Ellingwood,  Ralph  Foster,  Moses  Brown 

Emmes,  Clark  Freeland,  John 

Emmes,  Henry  Freeman,  Isaac 

Emmons,  Aaron  Freeman,  Thomas 

Emmons,  Henry  Gardner,  William 


6O  MASTER  TILESTON. 

Garrett,  Joseph  Hall,  Jacob 

Gallop,  Benjamin  Hall,  Timothy 

Gallop,  Richard  Hallen,  Christian 

Givin,  Nathan  Hallet,  Job 

Gleason,  Benjamin  Hallowell,  Samuel 

Godfrey,  Moses  Hallowell,  William 

Goldthwait,  Benj.  Haman,  Casper 

Goldthwait,  John  Haman,  Edward 

Goodridge,  James  T.  Harding,  Isaac 

Goodridge,  John  Harris,  Isaac 

Goodridge,  Sam'l  W.  Harris,  Leach 

Grabb,  Samuel  Harris,  Samuel 

Grant,  James  Harris,  Stephen 

Greenleaf,  Oliver  C.  Harris,  Nathaniel 

Green,  John  Brown  Harris,  William 

Green,  Richard  Harrison,  William 

Green,  Robert  Hartt,  Edward 

Greenough,  David  Hartwell,  John 

Greenough,  John  Haskell,  Mark 

Greenough,  William  Haskins,  Richard 

Groom,  Richard  Hatty,  Michael 

Hagger,  Benjamin  Hayden,  Joseph 

Haley,  Charles  Hayden,  Samuel 

Haley,  Daniel  Hausst,  Joseph 

Hall,  Edward  Hayter,  Stephen 


SCHOLARS.  6 1 

Heath,  Andrew  Hitchborn,  John 

Heath,  E.  Hitchborn,  Nathan'l 

Heath,  Samuel  Hitchborn,  Philip 

Heath,  Thomas  Hitchborn,  Samuel 

Heath,  William  Hodges,  Charles 

Heffron,  Jeremiah       Hodges,  Leonard 
Hemmenway,  David  Holland,  Thomas 
Herfimenway,  Ebe'r    Homer,  Andrew 
Hemmenway,  Israel  Homer,  Samuel 
Hemmenway,  Joseph  Homer,  William 
Hemmenway,  Peter    Hopkins,  David 
Hemmenway,  Sam'l   Hopkins,  Henry 
Henley,  Charles          Hopkins,  Nathaniel 
Henley,  James  Home,  Joshua 

Herdand,  Nathaniel    Hotty,  Joseph 
Hewes,  Nathaniel  P.   House,  Edward 
Heyler,  William          Howard,  Samuel 
Higginson,  John          Howe,  Nathaniel 
Hiller,  John  M.  Howe,  Robert 

Hillman,  Robert         Howe,  Thomas 
Hills,  Elias  Hudson,  William 

Hills,  John  Hunt,  John 

Hills,  Samuel  Hunt,  Joseph 

Hitchborn,  Barret       Hunt,  Samuel 
Hitchborn, Benjamin  Hyler,  William 


62 


MASTER    TILESTON. 


Ingalls,  Benjamin 
Ingalls,  Robert 
Ingalls,  Stephen 
Ingerfield,  Paul 
Ingerfield,  Peter 
Ingerfield,  Thomp'n 
Ingersoll,  Abraham 
Ingersoll,  John 
Ingraham,  Nathaniel 
Ingraham,  William 
Jackson,  Daniel 
Jackson,  George 
Jackson,  Henry 
Jackson,  John 
Jarvis,  Benjamin 
Jarvis,  John 
Jarvis,  Samuel 
Jenkins,  Joseph 
Jenkins,  Samuel 
Jenkins,  William 
Jenks,  Henry  G. 
Jenks,  William 
Jennison,  John 
Jennison,  John  L. 
Jennison,  Samuel 


Jones,  James 
Kemble,  Thomas 
Kennedy,  William 
Kent,  John 
Kettell,  Thomas 
Kidder,  Abraham 
Kidder,  Joseph 
Kirkwood,  James 
Kissick,  Francis  W. 
Knox,  Barnabas 
Knox,  Robert 
Kuddock,  Samuel 
Kust,  Enoch 
Laka,  Samuel 
Lamb,  Samuel 
Lambert,  George 
Lambert,  John 
Lambert,  Thomas 
Lambert,  William 
Langley,  Daniel 
Larkin,  Freeman  R. 
Larkin,  Samuel 
Lask,  Robert 
Laughton,  Dan'l  W. 
Lawrence,  Joshua 


SCHOLARS. 


Lawrence,  Thomas 
Leach,  Melineuse 
Lewis,  Amos 
Lewis,  George 
Lewis,  James 
Lewis,  John 
Lewis,  Thomas 
Lilley,  Henry 
Lillie,  John  S. 
Lillie,  Jonathan 
Lillie,  Thomas 
Linn,  James 
Litchie,  Thomas 
Lombard,  James 
Lombard,  Thomas 
Lord,  Alexander 
Lord,  John 
Lord,  Robert 
Lord,  Samuel 
Lord,  William 
Loring,  David 
Loring,  Edward 
Loring,  Henry 
Loring,  Joseph 
Loring,  Thomas 


Loring,  William 
Lothrop,  John 
Low,  Cornelius 
Luckins,  Thomas  M. 
Luckis,  Benjamin 
Magean,  Moses 
Makins,  Samuel 
Malborn,  Godfrey 
Mansfield,  Amos 
Marten,  Abiel 
Martin,  John 
Marstin,  Nathaniel 
Mason,  Samson 
Matchett,  William 
McCarty,  Charles 
McClarey,  William 
Mooris,  Joseph 
Meers,  Daniel 
Meers,  Nehemiah 
Meisories,  William 
Meisories,  Joseph 
Mellage,  James 
Mellage,  John 
Milldollar,  Philip 
Mills,  James 


64 


MASTER    TILESTON. 


Minns,  Henry 
Minns,  Thomas 
Mitchell,  John 
Moody,  William 
Moore,  Thomas 
Morgan,  John 
Morris,  Thomas 
Morse,  Samuel 
Moseley,  David 
Mountfort,  Joseph 
Neat,  John 
Newcomb,  William 
Newman,  John 
Newman,  Joseph 
Newman,  Thomas 
Newman,  Timothy 
Noble,  Arthur 
Noble,  James 
Noble,  John 
Norton,  Elisha 
Norton,  Richard 
Oliver,  Benjamin 
Oliver,  Ebenezer 
Oliver,  Joseph 
Oliver,  William  Pitt 


Owen,  Benjamin 
Page,  Benjamin 
Palmer,  Andrew 
Palmer,  Francis 
Palmer,  Samuel 
Parkman,  Samuel 
Peak,  John 
Peak,  Ralph  H. 
Pendexter,  Alex. 
Penny,  Henry 
Perkins,  John  S. 
Perkins,  Samuel 
Pierce,  John  Badger 
Pierce,  Jonathan 
Pierce,  Joseph 
Pierce,  Thomas 
Pierce,  William 
Piermont,  John 
Piermont,  Thomas 
Pike,  Benjamin 
Pike,  Enoch 
Pike,  Timothy 
Pittman,  Joshua 
Policy,  Jacob 
Pook,  Charles 


SCHOLARS. 


Presson,  Nicholas 
Prout,  James 
Pulsifer,  David 
Pulsifer,  James 
Ramsdell,  David 
Rand,  Isaac 
Rand,  James 
Rattey,  William  W. 
Rayment,  Edmund 
Raymond,  William 
Rayner,  John 
Revere,  Paul 
Rhoades,  Ebenezer 
Rhoades,  Isaac 
Rhoades,  Jacob 
Rhoades,  John 
Rhoades,  Stephen 
Rice,  Richard  L. 
Richards,  John 
Richardson,  Jona. 
Ridgeway,  Philip 
Riverley,  William 
Robbins,  Francis 
Robbins,  James 
Roberts,  Benjamin 


Roberts,  John  Tate 
Roberts,  Thomas 
Roberts,  William 
Robinson,  Benjamin 
Robinson,  Edward 
Robinson,  John 
Rogers,  Joseph 
Rogers,  Samuel 
Rose,  Philip 
Ruddock,  Edward 
Ruddock,  John 
Salmon,  John 
Saunders,  William 
Savage,  William 
Seward,  Benjamin 
Seward,  Thomas 
Skelton,  Stephen 
Skelton,  William 
Sigourney,  Anthony 
Sigourney,  Peter 
Sinclair,  Thomas 
Singleton,  Thomas 
Skillen,  John 
Skillings,  Neh.  W. 
Skinner,  David 


66 


MASTER    TILESTON. 


Skinner,  Richard 
Skinner,  Simeon 
Skimmer,  William 
Smith,  Francis 
Smith,  Robert 
Smith,  Robert  H. 
Smith,  William 
Smithwick,  Francis 
Snelling,  James 
Snelling,  John 
Snelling,  Joseph 
Snow,  Ambrose 
Snow,  Jeremiah 
Snow,  Thomas 
Snow,  Simeon 
Spence,  Peter 
Starr,  Joseph 
Starr,  William 
Stevenson,  Benj. 
Stevenson,  Thomas 
Stillman,  John 
Stillman,  Samuel 
Stoddard,  David 
Stoddard,  Seth 
Stodder,  Jonathan 


Stone,  Samuel 
Swift,  Benjamin 
Symmes,  John 
Tate,  Thomas  Frail 
Taylor,  Benjamin 
Tenneys,  Richard 
Thomas,  Alexander 
Thomas,  George 
Thomas,  John 
Thomas,  Joseph 
Thomas,  Thomas  K. 
Thompson,  David 
Thompson,  James 
Tileston,  John 
Townsend,  David 
Townsend,  Samuel 
Tucker,  John 
Tucker,  Samuel 
Turner,  William 
Tyler,  Edward 
Tyler,  Ellis 
Vincent,  George 
Vincent,  Joseph 
Vincent,  Thomas 
Waine,  Edward 


SCHOLARS.  67 

Waine,  Thomas  B.  Weld,  Giles 

Waine,  William  Wells,  Benjamin 

Walker,  Ezekiel  White,  Ebenezer 

Walker,  John  White,  Samuel 

Walker,  Joshua  Whitman,  Edward 

Walker,  Newark  J.  Williams,  Edward 

Walker,  Thomas  Williams,  John 

Wallace,  Samuel  H.  Williams,  Thomas 

Walls,  Samuel  Williston,  Friend 

Walls,  Thomas  Williston,  John 

Warner,  Daniel  Williston,  Joseph 

Waters,  Samuel  Woodward,  William 

Webb,  Nathan  Wyer,  David 

Webb,  Thomas  Wyer,  John 

Webb,  William  Yandells,  Samuel 
Welch,  William 


PARENTS  AND  GUARDIANS 

OF  JOHN  TILESTON'S  PRIVATE  SCHOLARS, 
1761-62. 


In  1761  and  1762  Mr.  Tileston  taught  a 
private  school  for  boys  and  girls,  in  con- 
nection with  his  public  school,  as  I  learn 
from  his  diary  and  his  ledger.  He  kept  a 
regular  account  with  the  parents  and  guard- 
ians of  his  pupils,  whose  names  are  given 
below.  In  his  accounts  with  the  parents 
and  guardians  I  find  that  they  were  all 
charged  with  "  Books,  Pens  and  Ink." 
The  price  of  tuition  was  three  pounds  a 
quarter. 

Besides  paying  for  their  own  sons  and 
daughters,  Nathaniel  Holmes  paid  for 
Sarah  Eell's  schooling ;  Benjamin  Harrod 
for  Mary  Saltonstall ;  Mrs.  Bright  for 
Elizabeth  Ingersoll;  William  Shippard  for 


PARENTS   AND    GUARDIANS.  69 

Phil.  Tucker,  and  Daniel  Coney  for  Tim- 
othy Jackson. 

Adams,  William  Cheever,  William 

Allen,  Widow  Eliza.  Clemens,  James 

Andrews,  John  Clough,  John 

Atkins,  Henry  Clough,  Joseph 

Atkins,  Silas  Coney,  Daniel 

Badger,  Abel  Crosby,  Mrs.  Mary 

Bailey,  James  Dexter,  Samuel 

Baker,  Widow  Mary  Dobel,  John 

Baker,  Nathaniel  Eliot,  Andrew 

Bass,  Philip  Emmerson,  Edward 

Boucher,  Thomas  Eustis,  Joseph 

Breck,  Widow  Fairservice,  James 

Breed,  Nathaniel  Goldthwait,  Thomas 

Bright,  Mrs.  »  Greenwood,  Nath'l 

Brown,  John  Hammett,  Benjamin 

Brown,  Jonathan  Hancock,  Nathan 

Butler,  John  Harrod,  Benjamin 

Butler,  Mrs.  Mary  Hill,  Alexander 
Campbell,  Mr.  (tailor)  Hobby,  Rev.  Mr.  (of 
Carey,  Jonathan  Reading) 

Carey,  Richard  Holmes,  Nathaniel 

Checkley,  Samuel  Horton,  John 


MASTER    TILESTON. 


How,  Joseph 
Rowland,  Nathaniel 
Hutchinson,  Thos. 
Jenkins,  David 
Jenkins,  Jonathan 
Jones,  Ichabod 
Lenox,  David 
Lewis,  Philip 
Loring,  Nathaniel 
Page,  William 
Paine,  William 
Parkman,  Mrs. 
Phillips,  Richard 
Prebble,  Col. 
Procter,  Benjamin 
Pulling,  John 
Rand,  Nathaniel 
Rea,  Uriel 
Robb,  James 
Ruddock,  John 


Russell,  James 
Savage,  Samuel  P. 
Shaw,  Francis 
Shippard,  William 
Sigourney,  Andrew 
Skillin,  Simeon 
Snelling,  Mary 
Spear,  Nathan 
Stoddard,  After 
Stone,  Thomas 
Thomas,  Elias 
Thomas,  James 
Thomas,  William 
Townsend,  Shippy 
Tudor,  John 
Turell,  Joseph 
Wells,  Francis 
Wendell,    Mrs.    Han- 

[nah 
White,  John 


DIARY  OF  JOHN  TILESTON. 
1761  to  1766. 


1761.  Sept'r  15.     Had  a  new  Hatt  of 
Mr.  Prince.     Price  £12. 

Sept.  20.     My  old  Hatt  new  lin'd. 

Oct'r  12.     Open'd  Evening  School. 

Oct'r  24.     Great  wind. 

Oct'r  26.  Went  to  B — y.  Gave  M — r 
5  Doll's.  (Great  storm.)  Bot.  4  Cords 
Wood,  cost  £2.  Bot.  10  Baskets  Char- 
coal, ^3  os.  od. 

Nov.  4.  Bo't  12  Baskets  of  Coal,  £$ 
i  os. 

Dec.  6.  Paid  the  Excise  on  Tea  and 
Coffee. 

Dec.  ii.  His  Excellency  Major  Gen- 
eral Whitmore  was  drowned. 

1762.  Jan.    5.      Died,    Elizabeth,   Em- 
press of  Russia. 

Declared  war  against  Spain. 


72  MASTER   TILESTON. 

Jan'y  15.  Window's  Sash  put  up  new, 
and  fence  painted  and  Cellar  Doors ;  new 
Hearth  ;  new  Floor ;  new  fence  between 
Latin  School. 

Feb.  1 6.  Martinico  taken  by  the  Eng- 
lish ;  General  Moncton,  Commander. 

April  14.  Declar'd  war  (at  Boston) 
against  the  King  of  Spain. 

May  7.  137  Boys  at  School  at  one 
Time  in  the  forenoon. 

May  10.     139  Boys  present  at  one  Time. 

May  17.     136  Boys  present. 

May  18.     140  Boys  present. 

May  19.     136  Boys  present. 

June  14.  158  Boys  present  at  once 
(afternoon). 

July  3.  I  had  of  Mr.  Jn'o.  Perkins,  2 
Rheams  of  Paper;  one  at  5-10;  the  other 
at  4-10. 

July  28  was  observ'd  as  a  Day  of  Fast- 
ing and  Prayer  throughout  the  Province, 
on  account  of  the  Scorching  Drought. 

July  30.  We  had  a  fine  soaking  rain, 
almost  all  day. 

Aug.  i.     137  Boys  present  at  school. 


DIARY.  73 

Aug.  23.  133  Boys  present  (exclusive 
of  private  scholars). 

Aug.  27.  Capt'n  Sigourney  sent  me  a 
Jugg  of  Rum. 

Sept.  7.  Began  to  take  in  Wood  at 
School.  137  Boys  present  (exclusive  of 
private  scholars). 

Sept.  7.  Took  the  house  of  Mad'm  Ste- 
vens, at  ;£ioo  per  annum.  Lodg'd  in  it  the 
1 3th  of  September.  (Graining.) 

Sept.  7.  30  feet  of  Wood  at  School. 
10  feet  more  Oct.  8. 

Sept.  8.  Bought  a  knife  of  Mr.  S-g-d. 
Cost  2os.  old  ten. 

Sept.  22.     6  feet  do.  at  house. 

Oct.  8.     12  feet  do.  at  do. 

Oct.  10.     36  feet  do.  at  do. 

Sept.  30.  We  had  our  roast  beef  frolic 
at  hog  Island. 

Died  the  3Oth  Sept.  Eliza.  Coffin, 
Daughter  to  Brother  C.  Coffin,  aged  7 
years  and  9  months. 

Oct.  21.  Mr.  Allen  gave  me  a  present 
of  £z  1 5 s.  old  ten. 

Oct.  29.     Began  to  make  Fire  at  School. 


74  MASTER   TILESTON. 

Began  to  take  the  Newspapers  of  Mr. 
Draper,  at  $os.  per  annum.  Paid  25^.  in 
part  thereof. 

Nov.  4.  Bot.  of  Mr.  Symonds  .(our  Milk 
Man)  4  Barrels  of  Cyder  at  50.?.  old  ten, 
per  Barrel —  ;£io. 

Nov.  6.     Tack  put  up. 

Nov.  15.  Bot.  6  Baskets  of  Coal  for 
£i  i6s. 

Nov.  16.  The  Tansur  Singers  at  my 
House. 

J763-  Jan.  13.  Renew'd  my  Licence. 
Mr.  Will  and  De  Cheserau  being  my 
bondsmen. 

Feb.  2.     Bot.  4  Baskets  of  Coal  for  2os. 

March  23.  Capt'n  Vernon  sent  me  a 
present  —  2  doz'n  of  pickle  Limes,  Cocoa 
Nuts  and  other  sort  of  Nuts. 

Capt'n  Cartwright  sent  me  some  pickle 
Limes  (a  pail  full). 

April  26.     My  Desk  brought  home. 

May  ii.  145  Boys  present  (exclusive 
of  P.  School). 

Aug.  2.     I  had  of  Mr.  Ballard  8  Cord- 


DIARY.  75 

wood  for  my  House  and  Aug.  3  I  had  6 
Cord  for  School  at  £6  per  Cord. 

Aug.  4.     Our  frolick  at  Spectacle. 

Aug.  9.  Capt'n  Vernon  sent  me  1-2 
Dozen  Oranges. 

Aug.  9.     The  Singers  at  my  House. 

Aug.  10.  Peace  proclaimed  at  Boston. 
(Training  Day.) 

Thursday,  25th  of  Aug.,  died  the  Rev'd 
Mr.  Alex'r  Cummings,  ae  37.  His  dis- 
order was  the  bilious  Cholick. 

Sept.  1 6.  Mr.  William  Darracott  took 
the  Key  of  the  Barn  —  he  to  give  5  Dol- 
lars per  year  as  rent  for  the  same. 

Sept.  23.  B-r-d  of  Mr.  L-h  ^50  old 
ten,  to  pay  Interest  for  the  same  till  paid. 

Sept.  26.  Lent  Master  Proctor  1,000 
quils.  Oct.  10,  lent  1,000  ditto.  Dec.  27, 
lent  Mr.  Proctor  100  quils.  Jan.  4,  2,000 
ditto. 

Oct.  22.  I  transplanted  a  Mulberry 
Tree  of  Mr.  Leache's. 

Oct.  22.  Stephen  Greenleaf  came  to 
my  house. 


76  MASTER   TILESTON. 

1764.     Feb.  23.     Singers  at  my  House. 

Ap'l  9.  Stephen  Greenleaf  came  again 
after  having  the  Small-pox. 

I  gave  3  pistoreens  for  my  6  Ovals. 

Ingredients  for  I  quart  of  Ink  —  4 
ounces  of  Galls  of  Aleppo,  2  ounces  of 
Copperas,  2  ounces  of  Gum  Arabic. 

May  7.  Capt'n  Jenkin  paid  me  and 
made  an  allowance  of  2os.  for  keeping  me 
so  long  out  of  my  money. 

June  7.     Doct'r  Nyott  Doubt  died. 

Aug.  22.  147  Boys  present,  exclusive 
of  private  scholars. 

Sept'r  15.  I  had  a  pair  of  gold  buttons 
of  Mr.  Webb. 

Oct'r  29.  Paid  Mr.  Sam'l  Barret  ;£  15.00. 
Old  Ten's,  it  being  what  I  gave  towards 
building  the  new  north  Steeple. 

I  had  a  new  Russel  Gown. 

1765.  Feb'y  4.  I  had  the  following 
Reams  of  Paper  of  Mr.  Caleb  Blanchard, 
viz,,  i  of  £9 ;  i  of  £6,  7,  6 ;  i  of  ,£3,  15. 
Total  £19  2s.  6d.  Paid  the  I4th  of  Nov'r, 
1765. 


DIARY.  77 

Feb'r  23.  Bought  a  Hog  which  weigh'd 
244  Ibs.  Cost  ^30  los.  6d. 

March  14.  Bought  i  Ream  of  Paper  at 
Deacon  Barret's.  Paid  ^5  os.  od. 

March  30.  Chimney  swept  and  Bacon 
put  up. 

April  22.    Chimney  swept  in  the  Kitchen. 

Ap'l  i.  Made  I  doz.  Cyphering  books 
with  10  1-2  sheets  in  each. 

April  6.  Being  Sabbath  day  Capt'n 
Dickey's  house  caught  on  Fire  in  the 
morning,  just  before  the  second  Bell  rung, 
but  was  speedily  extinguished.  In  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day  we  were  again 
alarmed  by  Mr.  Checkley's  house  being  on 
Fire,  and  it  like  to  have  prov'd  a  great 
Fire.  Every  thing  was  mov'd  out  of  the 
House,  and  the  top  of  the  House  was  in- 
tirely  broke  open. 

April  8.  Mrs.  Leach  del'd  of  the  7th 
son,  successively. 

April  22.     Apply'd  to  Doct'r  Lloyd. 

April  30.  Mr.  Bartlett  sent  me  a  Dozen 
of  Bristol  Beer. 


78  MASTER   TILESTON. 

April  30.  Rev'd  Mr.  Penuel  Bowen  was 
Ordained  to  the  Pastoral  Care  of  the  New 
South  Church  and  Colleague  with  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Checkley.  (We  broke  up  school  and 
went.) 

May  1 8.  Bought  of  Mr.  Salter  8  Slates 
for  48^.,  and  100  pencils  for  15^. 

June  12.  Had  of  Mr.  T.  Leverett  2 
Rheams  of  Paper.  (July  had  2  quires  blue 
paper.) 

June  26.  The  Select  Men  visited  the 
Schools. 

Aug.  2d.  Had  two  Cords  of  Wood  of 
Mrs.  Doubt,  from  Mr.  Gable's  Wharff,  at 
£$  los.  per  Cord. 

Aug.  i.     Made  6  doz.  best  books. 

Aug.  8.  Made  I  doz.  Cyphering  books, 
10  1-2  sheets  in  each. 

Aug't  21.  Had  of  Mr.  Malcom  12  Cord 
and  1-2  of  Wood  (6  1-2  at  School),  at  ^5 
los.  per  Cord. 

Sept.  1 6.  Bought  of  Capt'n  Boroughs 
at  the  Town  Dock  ten  thousand  quills  at 
.  per  thousand.  I  likewise  bought  at 


DIARY.  79 

the  same  place  4  thousand  for  Master 
Proctor. 

Sept.  14.  Mr.  Elias  Thomas,  jun., 
bought  Eleven  Hundred  Quills  for  me  at 
4s.  per  hund.  Little  after,  Mr.  Thomas 
bought  two  thousand  four  hundred  more. 

Oct.  10.  Made  5  1-2  doz.  books,  best 
paper. 

Nov.  14.  I  had  a  pair  of  double  soled 
pumps  of  Mr.  Webber,  ^3  IDS. 

Nov'r  21.  Died,  Master  Langdon  (of  a 
fever)  ae.  32  yrs. 

Nov'r  27.  Mr,  Carter's  Father  died  very 
suddenly. 

Dec'r  26.  Miss  Anna  Grant  died  of  a 
Consumption. 

1766.  Jan'y  25.  School  Chimney  al- 
tered. Cost  £i  2s.  6d. 

Sept.  4.  I  was  a  Bearer  to  Mr.  John 
Laughton's  wife. 

Sept.  29.  Bought  a  Ream  of  Paper  at 
Deacon  Barret's.  Cost  £6  i$s. 

Nov.  20.  Mr.  Samuel  Neats  died,  greatly 
lamented  by  all  who  were  acquainted  with 
him,  aged  44. 


8O  MASTER    TILESTON. 

Among  other  matters  the  Diary  con- 
tains the  amount  Mr.  Tileston  "  put  into 
the  Contribution  box"  every  Sabbath  for 
several  years,  commencing  1763.  The 
amounts  vary  from  ten  and  three  pence 
to  nine  shillings.  The  aggregate  is  a  no 
trifling  sum  for  a  man  in  moderate  cir- 
cumstances. 

There  is  also  "  An  Account  of  Contri- 
bution Money  for  my  Pew,  since  Jan'y  ist, 
1768,"  to  Dec.,  1774.  The  sums  vary  from 
ten  shillings  to  one,  two,  and  three  pounds. 
Mr.  Tileston  worshiped  at  the  New  North 
Church. 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


-IBRARY  FACILITY 


